The Off Topic Topic

[The Brain]

What is your fancy title then?

Mäster.

Clarissime Magister Brain/Cerebrum?

Sure why not.

Just asking to see if university titles in Sweden were as in Wild Strawberries.

The chicks all look like Bibi Andersson too.

[Eddie Teach]

"Best" is such an abstract concept.
It's rare there's one absolute unquestionably best person. More commonly there's a bunch who for various reasons could be a good fit.

That's not my experience at all when it comes to promotions. But of course YMMV.

Yeah, I would say it is rare that there is not an obvious best choice. It is a nice problem to have when that is not true. 

Not if it's because nobody is qualified.

[Duque de Bragança]

What is your fancy title then?

Mäster.

Clarissime Magister Brain/Cerebrum?

Sure why not.

Just asking to see if university titles in Sweden were as in Wild Strawberries.

The chicks all look like Bibi Andersson too.

Did not seem so in the Stockholm Metro though. 

[The Larch]

If you remember from the Covid thread, Van Morrison revealed himself to be a "lockdown skeptic", so to speak, and published songs about that. He's now announced a new 2 disc record (simply named "Latest Record Project") and reading the track list the cringe level seems to be through the roof. Take a look:

Disc One
1. "Latest Record Project"
2. "Where Have All the Rebels Gone?"
3. "Psychoanalysts' Ball"
4. "No Good Deed Goes Unpunished"
5. "Tried to Do the Right Thing"
6. "The Long Con"
7. "Thank God for the Blues"
8. "Big Lie"
9. "A Few Bars Early"
10. "It Hurts Me Too"
11. "Only a Song"
12. "Diabolic Pressure"
13. "Deadbeat Saturday Night"
14. "Blue Funk"

Disc Two
1. "Double Agent"
2. "Double Bind"
3. "Love Should Come With A Warning"
4. "Breaking The Spell"
5. "Up County Down"
6. "Duper's Delight"
7. "My Time After a While"
8. "He's Not the Kingpin"
9. "Mistaken Identity"
10. "Stop Bitching, Do Something"
11. "Western Man"
12. "They Own the Media"
13. "Why Are You on Facebook?"
14. "Jealousy"

[crazy canuck]

"Best" is such an abstract concept.
It's rare there's one absolute unquestionably best person. More commonly there's a bunch who for various reasons could be a good fit.

That's not my experience at all when it comes to promotions. But of course YMMV.

Yeah, I would say it is rare that there is not an obvious best choice. It is a nice problem to have when that is not true. 

Not if it's because nobody is qualified.

True, but I have never encountered that problem.

[Tamas]

This is kind of cool:

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/mar/05/ship-hovering-above-sea-cornwall-optical-illusion?CMP=twt_gu&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium#Echobox=1614950710

The effect is an example of an optical illusion known as a superior mirage. Such illusions are reasonably common in the Arctic but can also happen in UK winters when the atmospheric conditions are right, though they are very rare.

The illusion is caused by a meteorological phenomenon called a temperature inversion. Normally, the air temperature drops with increasing altitude, making mountaintops colder than the foothills. But in a temperature inversion, warm air sits on top of a band of colder air, playing havoc with our visual perception. The inversion in Cornwall was caused by chilly air lying over the relatively cold sea with warmer air above.

Because cold air is denser than warm air, it has a higher refractive index. In the case of the "hovering ship", this means light rays coming from the ship are bent downwards as it passes through the colder air, to observers on the shoreline. Having evolved to keep things simple, the human brain is easily fooled. It assumes the light rays from the ship have travelled in a straight line, and so pictures the ship in a higher position than it really is – in this instance, above the sea surface.

Executive summary? Was the ship flying for real?

[Habbaku]

I skimmed the summary, and yes, the ship was flying.

[Valmy]

This fleet of flying container ships will destroy us all!!

[The Brain]

Modern computer games have made stuff like the pic less noteworthy than in olden times. "Meh, stuff often happens around draw distance".

[Tonitrus]

This fleet of flying container ships will destroy us all!!

I, for one, welcome our flying container ship overlords.

[crazy canuck]

Modern computer games have made stuff like the pic less noteworthy than in olden times. "Meh, stuff often happens around draw distance".

Bad photoshop job

[Savonarola]

This is kind of cool:

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/mar/05/ship-hovering-above-sea-cornwall-optical-illusion?CMP=twt_gu&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium#Echobox=1614950710

The effect is an example of an optical illusion known as a superior mirage. Such illusions are reasonably common in the Arctic but can also happen in UK winters when the atmospheric conditions are right, though they are very rare.

The illusion is caused by a meteorological phenomenon called a temperature inversion. Normally, the air temperature drops with increasing altitude, making mountaintops colder than the foothills. But in a temperature inversion, warm air sits on top of a band of colder air, playing havoc with our visual perception. The inversion in Cornwall was caused by chilly air lying over the relatively cold sea with warmer air above.

Because cold air is denser than warm air, it has a higher refractive index. In the case of the "hovering ship", this means light rays coming from the ship are bent downwards as it passes through the colder air, to observers on the shoreline. Having evolved to keep things simple, the human brain is easily fooled. It assumes the light rays from the ship have travelled in a straight line, and so pictures the ship in a higher position than it really is – in this instance, above the sea surface.

Radio Frequency experiences a similar phenomenon called tropospheric ducting where, due to thermal inversion, radio waves can propagate over the horizon.  If anyone is interested in trying it out here is a site which has maps where conditions are optimal for FM/VHF/UHF tropospheric ducting.  (AM isn't usually impacted by the troposphere because it's a ground wave, which means that the earth acts as a conductor; but it can also act as a sky wave and bounce off the ionosphere at night.)

Back in the analog cellular days we'd sometimes get customers connected to our system (in Detroit) as far away as Toronto (200 miles / 330 Km away.)  With the advent of digital technology timing becomes key, so customers could register, but were unable to make calls on distant systems.

[Josquius]

Modern computer games have made stuff like the pic less noteworthy than in olden times. "Meh, stuff often happens around draw distance".

I've often thought the same about tourist sites in general.

[Admiral Yi]

Mäster.

Chef?

[The Brain]

Mäster.

Chef?

Chiëf